


Pass Like the Weather

by gaylax_ies



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Feelings, Fluff, Gender-Neutral Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, How Do I Tag, Keith and Shiro are Siblings, M/M, Mermaid Hunk, Not Really Character Death, Slow Burn, Suicide Attempt, Swimming, bc he's in the ocean, but like its not really intense, i guess?, kind of, lance is salty, like a lot of it, lmao do you get it, mermaid Pidge, mermaid au, mermaid lance, so many feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-26
Updated: 2017-01-26
Packaged: 2018-09-19 23:28:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9465386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaylax_ies/pseuds/gaylax_ies
Summary: “What’s it like?”“What’s what like?”“You know, being a mermaid and all.”“It’s very wet.”AKA- that vaguely sad, slightly angsty, mainly just cute and kinda strange mermaid AU that nobody asked for but me.





	

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNING: there is a suicide attempt at the beginning but it's not violent or super depressing, I don't think. But if you're uncomfortable with that you can command+f and skip to "Help, we need help!" If you are uncomfortable with hospitals, you can use the same keyboard commands to skip to "But Keith doesn’t believe in fairy tales." However, references to the attempt and another kind of attempt kind of not are still in it, so if you're sensitive to that kind of stuff, I'd recommend avoiding this story all together (I'm sorry!).  
> Also, this isn't beta-read, so please try to forgive me for any typos! I'll be checking up on it occasionally to edit it.  
> Finally, you can reach me [HERE](http://fukurodani-jpeg.tumblr.com) on my tumblr for art, questions, or anything else!!  
> The title is from Honey by Moose Blood

 

Keith has never believed in fairy tales.

He doesn’t believe in happy ever afters, or that a kiss can bring you back to life. He doesn’t believe in dragons or mermaids or phoenixes or frogs that turn into princes.

Life could never be that beautiful.

 

The wind whips around him where he stands, sending his hair flying, burning his skin with its strength. He can still hear Shiro’s words in his head.

_“Come home safe, okay, Keith?”_

Keith just sighs. He strips off his shoes, socks and jacket, folding them and placing them on a rock a few feet behind where he stands. The roar of the ocean, dozens of storeys below him, is relentless and deafening.

He loves it. 

He stares out into the distance, the far-away lights of his little town flickering like stars. It’s all he’s known, ever since he was a kid. Ever since his mother died and his father up and left him and Shiro with their grandmother. He aches insides as he says goodbye to it.

He takes a step back.

_Percy’s Cove._

Another.

_Gramma._

One more.

_Shiro._

And then, he’s falling.

_I love you._

 

Keith’s back hits the water like cement, knocking all of the air from his lungs. His body goes cold as he’s wrapped in the ocean, struggling against his instincts to claw and fight towards the surface. Water floods his lungs.

He sinks.

Keeping his eyes open, he watches as the warped view of the moon grows smaller and smaller, getting dimmer as his body struggles for oxygen. His head pounds, natural alarm systems ringing as his heartbeat slows, as his fingers and toes start going numb. He knows it’s almost over.

He’s afraid; so, so afraid, but he lets his eyes close as his body gives up.

Then there’s an arm around his waist and a hand over his mouth and nose, pulling his chin to his chest as he rockets upwards.

Keith panics, flails, struggles against whoever’s holding him

_No. No, no, no, no, no. This wasn’t supposed to happen._

He loses consciousness. 

All he can feel is the harsh scraping of rocks and glass against his back, and the sound of someone shouting, “Help, we need help!”

 

“Keith? Keith, baby? Wake up, oh, please wake up.”

“Keith? Can you hear us? Keith, c’mon, please.”

He’s so cold. His limbs feel like they each weigh a thousand pounds. He coughs, and he can taste salt come up on his lips.

There’s a hand on his forehead, brushing his wet hair back. It’s warm and soft and comforting. He loves it.

He coughs again, air scraping roughly against his throat. There’s more salt on his lips. His eyelashes stick together as he tries to open them, so he forces them open. His stomach churns violently, and, without thinking, he sits up and vomits on the floor. His Grandma’s warm hand is on his back as his head pounds and he spits more salt out, fighting back the urge to throw up again. Shiro reaches out and wipes his face with a warm cloth.

“Keith, you’re awake.” Shiro’s says softly, reaching out and cupping Keith’s cheek with his hand. Keith stares up at him, blinking into Shiro’s red eyes.

“Keith, baby,” his Gramma coos, rubbing warm circles onto his back. He turns his head to look  at her, trying to ignore the burn in his own eyes. She’s crying.

“What happened? Where am I?” he asks, the words tearing painfully from his throat as his spits up more salt. His chest hurts, a bright, screaming pain on his right side.

“You, uh, you drowned, Keith,” Shiro says, his voice betraying the hurt and confusion that he hides so well well on his face. His Gramma covers her mouth with a hand to hide the broken sob that she heaves.

Keith’s mind is reeling. He remembers taking of his jacket. He remembers the wind whipping his hair as he fell. He remembers the instinctive panic in his brain as his body shut down. He remembers the arms around his waist.

What happened after that?

“Kogane, Keith?” a man asks from the door. Shiro’s head turns towards the voice.

“Yes? Hello, Doctor,” he replies.

“Hello,” the man says. Keith hears his footsteps as he walks into the room. “I’m Dr. Geley, nice to meet you.”

“Shiro,” his brother replies, “and that’s Natalie.” Their Gramma walks around the bed to stand next to Shiro, wrapping her hand around his elbow.

“Alright. And…” Dr. Geley walks closer to him, leaning directly over Keith’s face. Keith blinks in shock. “Keith. It’s good to see you awake.”

“Um, Doctor?” Shiro says, “I’m not trying to be rude or anything, but could you tell us if Keith’s okay? Now, preferably?”

“Oh, yes, sorry,” the Doctor replies, stepping back from Keith to look at Shiro and Gramma. “Physically, he's not too bad. He’s swallowed a lot of water, he’s got some superficial abrasions on his back, likely from the rocks, and he’s got a cracked rib from the impact. We’re going to assess him for any brain damage when he’s more awake. However, I can’t currently speak for his mental state.”

“Oh, Keith,” Gramma says, pressing her hand to his cheek. His eyes drift over to her, staring apologetically.

“In the meantime, Keith, can you speak?” Dr. Geley asks, shifting his attention back.

“Yeah,” Keith rasps. His throat still burns, and he keeps coughing and spitting up saltwater.

“Good, good. Now, if you’re up to it, would you mind answering some questions for me? Nothing too hard, I promise.”

Keith nods.

“Good, okay,” Dr. Geley continues, “what month is it?”

“June.”

“How old are you?”

“Eighteen.”

“What’s 5 plus 2?”

“Seven.”

“Okay, very good. Now, can you follow this light with your eyes?”

Keith does what he’s asked, answering a few more questions, moving various parts of his body. When it’s over, Dr. Geley nods.

“Okay,” he announces to Shiro and Gramma, “so, Keith’s not exhibiting any signs of brain damage, which is amazing for someone who was under as long as he was. For now, we’re going to monitor him for a night or two, help him get that water out of his lungs, and set his rib. I’ll also book him in for psychiatry, but that might take a while. I’d recommend just talking to him for now, making sure you know how he’s feeling, trying to figure out what’s going on in his head. All in all though, he’s lucky, but he’d never survive another fall like that.”

“Okay,” Shiro replies with a nod.

“It’s also important that you two stay strong. I know that this is an incredibly stressful situation, but you both need to be here for Keith.”

“Okay.”

“Well, then,” Dr. Geley says, “I’ll be here all night if you guys need anything. Keith, try to get some rest. Also, sorry, I just noticed, but I’ll send someone in to clean the floor.”

“Okay, thank you,” Gramma says, reaching out to gently press on Keith’s shoulder as the doctor leaves. “Get some sleep, my love,” she tells him. He lays down gingerly, trying to ignore the burning in his throat and the heaviness in his limbs. He breathes deeply a few times, and his eyelids droop as he slowly falls asleep

“You’re gonna be okay, Keith.”

 

That night, he dreams of strong arms around his waist. He dreams of a bright, shining blue tail swishing as it drags Keith back up to the surface. He dreams of a blue-eyed boy breathing air into his lungs and shouting for help before abruptly disappearing.

 

But Keith doesn’t believe in fairy tales.

 

Things are the hospital were boring, but things back at home really aren’t much better. Gramma hovers, refusing to let Keith do anything himself. She’s always reminding him about his cracked rib, and how he need to be gentle with it so he doesn’t make it worse. Shiro worries, watching over Keith like a hawk, trying to have heart-to-hearts with him and get Keith to open up all of his feelings. And Keith appreciates it, he truly does, but some days, it’s too much.

He refuses to go to therapy, despite Shiro’s incessant pleading.

“Shiro,” he insists, “it was a moment of weakness, okay? I’ve just graduated, and I have a whole big future in front of me, and I was overwhelmed. Every kid gets that.”

“Yeah, but most of them don’t jump from cliffs!”

“Well, I did, okay?” Keith replies, throwing his arms in the air. “I’m a leader, not a follower. If all my friends jumped off a cliff,  I’d be the first one to go.”

“That wasn’t funny.”

“Sorry.”

In the end, Shiro takes Keith’s therapy appointment.

Keith also keeps having weird dreams of the boy with the blue tail, rescuing him, dragging him out of the ocean.

“I’m going,” he announces one day, about a week and a half after being released from the hospital. He tugs on his shoes and grabs his car keys out of the bowl on the front table.

“Where?” Shiro asks, leaning against the doorway of the foyer.

“Out.”

“Keith, c’mon.”

“Fine,” Keith says, “I’m going back to the ocean.” Shiro’s eyes steel over.

“No,” he commands, arms crossed over his chest and jaw set firmly.

“It’s not your decision to make, Shiro.”

“Keith,” he repeats with an aggressive flare in his eyes, “I said no.”

“Shiro,” Keith starts, “I’m going. I’m not going to jump again, okay? I will never do it again, I was sad and I was overthinking everything and I made a mistake and I will never repeat it. I promise. I _promise._ But I have to go; there’s something I can’t stop thinking about.”

“Let me come with you.”

“Shiro, please, just let me do this by myself,” he pleads, walking up and setting a hand on Shiro’s shoulder. Shiro just sighs.

“Fine. But take your phone with you, okay? And answer it immediately. And please, Keith, please come home safe.”

Keith nods and lets Shiro pull him in for a hug. Then he goes, sliding behind the wheel of his car.

 

 _Why am I even here?_ He asks himself as he walks, picking up pieces of green sea glass as he goes. Shiro’s always loved the green ones, the glass from Sprite bottles, he claims. The wind whips his hair, sending it flying into his eyes and mouth as he walks, and the rocks on the beach poke his bare feet. 

Keith just huffs a sigh, judging himself for coming back.

 _“I’m delusional,”_ he thinks, _“I was drowning and I hallucinated and I’m not gonna find anything because fairy tales don’t exist.”_

He just needs to find out, to know for sure. Maybe then, the dreams will go away.

He makes his way over the cliff where he jumped from, staring up at the ledge from where he stands at the bottom. Then he makes his way around it, wading out into the ocean a few feet and climbing up onto a little outcropping that never seems to get wet, despite always facing the ocean. He sits, putting his sea glass away in his left shoe, and waits with closed eyes.

After ten minutes, it happens.

“So, you’re alive?”

Keith shrieks, nearly jumping out of his skin as his eyes fly open to inspect his visitor. It’s a boy with blue eyes, his arms crossed over the outcropping and his chin resting on them. He watches Keith with rapt curiosity.

“So, how are you?” the boy asks with a smile, revealing rows of sharp, blindingly white teeth. There are scales decorating his cheekbones and the tops of his shoulders, glinting bright blue in the light.

“What are you!?” Keith cries, pressing his back up to the wall. _No,_ he thinks, _no way, this isn’t happening. Fairy tales are not real._

 _“_ Well,” the boy says with a smile, “that was a little, rude, don’t you think? Let’s try again. I’m Lance,” he announces, holding out a hand. Keith just stares, wide eyed, and Lance chuckles. “This is the part where you tell me your name,” he whispers loudly, like he’s sharing an amusing secret.

“Um, uh, it- I’m Keith,” he stutters, hand automatically reaching out to grasp Lance’s. Lance smiles at him, shaking their joined hands once before letting go and using both arms to pull himself onto the ledge.

Keith chokes.

Where there should be hips flowing into butt and legs, all Lance has is a tail. A bright blue one, shimmering in the dull sunlight. He catches Keith staring and flicks it once, splashing water into the outcropping.

“You- oh my god- no, no way, this isn’t- this can’t be real,” Keith stammers, his whole body shaking.

“Well, it is, Keith. Better believe it,” Lance says, flicking his tail again and hitting Keith’s face with water.

“Oh my god- you- was it- did you-“

“Did I save you? Yup,” Lance declares nonchalantly, “but I don’t get why you tried to throw yourself into the ocean. Only ugly men and heartbroken girls do that, and you’re neither of those.”

Keith blinks once, “huh?”

“I just called you attractive, and you reply with huh,” Lance teases, shaking his head, “wow, humans are strange.”

“I’m not- I don’t-” Keith tries. He feels like he’s choking.

“Are you afraid?”  Lance asks softly, reaching out to touch Keith’s face. Keith’s mouth drops open.

“Um, a little,” he admits, still shaking.

“It’s okay, I’m not going to hurt you.”

“Uh, thanks?” Keith says, “I don’t know, it’s just- I’ve never seen a mermaid before.”

“And I’ve never seen a human before,” Lance replies, grasping Keith’s chin and turning his head to inspect him.

“Um, what are you doing?” Keith asks, his hands tightening on his thighs, where he’d been unconsciously squeezing.

“Examining,” Lance informs him, running a finger down his neck. “Wow, so it’s true, humans don’t have gills. How do you breathe underwater?”

“We, uh- we don’t,” Keith responds. Lance cocks his head.

“Wow, sad,” he says wistfully, now taking strands of Keith’s hair between his fingers. Keith’s fingers are squeezing tighter, digging in to the soft flesh of his thighs, and Lance takes notice.

“Stop that,” he commands, clicking his tongue, “be gentle with yourself.”

“Oh, okay, sorry.”

“No, no, it’s okay,” Lance says with a smile, “are you really afraid of me?”

“Um, well, no, not really,” Keith replies, “I’m just a little nervous, I guess.”

“Okay,” Lance answers, “then go home, Keith, and come back tomorrow, and, hopefully, you’ll be a little less nervous. Also, don’t tell any of your human friends that I exist, please?”

“Um, okay, sure, sounds good, I won’t,” Keith stammers. Lance moves his hand and started sliding back into the water, propping himself up on his arms.

“You will come back, won’t you, Keith?” he asks earnestly, and there’s something about it that Keith can’t refuse.

“I will,” he replies, “I promise.”

“Good,” Lance says, “then I’ll see you tomorrow.” He lowers himself down into the water and, in the blink of an eye, he’s gone.

Keith sits at the beach for a long time, until Shiro calls him to come home. There’s a smattering of blue scales where Lance had been sitting and Keith picks one up, holding it on the tip of his finger.

Keith had never believed in fairy tales.

He does now.

 

Keith isn’t going to go back, he decides. Getting involved with a mermaid seems like nothing more than trouble to him.

So, of course, he winds up back at the beach, perched on the outcropping and staring out into the ocean.

“You actually came back,” Lance says simply when he arrives, startling Keith again. He laughs when Keith jumps, high and sweet, and it chimes in the little outcropping. “You really are a nervous little thing, aren’t you? Are you always like this?”

“Um, yeah, I guess,” Keith answers, “I’m just not great with new people or new situations, and goddamn, is this a new situation or what?”

“What?”

“Well, I mean like, you’re a mermaid. I didn’t even think mermaids existed until yesterday, so,” Keith says, hands flailing uselessly as he tries to explain.

Lance just laughs again, pulling himself up onto the ledge. “I understand.”

“Okay.”

They sit in silence for a bit, and Keith can feel Lance’s eyes on his body, watching him like he’s the most interesting thing in the world. He feels a blush rise on his cheeks, and Lance gasps.

“Your face! It turned pink!” Lance announces, poking Keith’s cheek with one finger.

“Um, yeah, it’s called a blush,” Keith chuckles slightly, “it happens when you’re embarrassed.”

“Why’re you embarrassed, Keith?” Lance asks, still prodding at Keith’s face with his head cocked.

“You were, uh, staring at me.”

“And that embarrassed you?” Keith nods. “Wow.”

They lapse back into silence, Lance’s cool fingers against Keith’s pink cheeks, his tail flicking idly in the waves.

“Keith?”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s go swimming,” Lance suggests, his tail snapping up and sending water flying at Keith. Keith smiles.

“I’d love to,” he says, “but I can’t. I told Shiro that I wouldn’t.”

“Shiro?”

“He’s my brother.”

“And why doesn’t he want you to go swimming?” Lance asks, leaning forward to rest his chin on his palm, his elbow balancing on his tail.

“Because… because I almost drowned, remember?” Keith replies, throat suddenly going dry.

“Oh, right,” Lance says, his eyes trained on Keith’s face, “why did you throw yourself into the ocean?”

Keith chokes again. 

“I, um,” he forces out, “I don’t really know, I guess. I was just tired, and I felt a little hopeless, and it was probably an overreaction but it didn’t feel like that at the time, and…” he trails off.

Lance waits patiently to see if Keith will finish his statement before saying, “so, you were sad?”

“Um, yeah, I guess. Can we, um, can we stop talking about this?”

“Does it make you uncomfortable?” Lance asks, eyebrows furrowing and blue eyes shining.

“Yeah, a little.”

“I’m sorry, Keith,” Lance says, gently reaching out to take one of Keith’s hands. He holds it up in front of his face, studying it thoroughly. “Wow, your fingers aren’t webbed,” he informs Keith, as though he didn’t know already, “that must slow you down.”

“Well, I guess,” Keith replies.

“You’re blushing again.”

“Because you’re holding my hand,” Keith says. Lance raises an eyebrow.

“And that embarrasses you?” he asks, still fiddling with Keith’s fingers as he reaches out to poke his cheek again.

“Kinda.”

“Wow,” Lance says breathily, staring at Keith with curious amazement, “you humans are so adorable.”

 

Becoming friends with a mermaid was not part of Keith's plan. But there was something about Lance that drew him in, that made him want more, to come back over and over again.

“What’s it like?” Keith asks, a week or so after their first meeting. He’s laying on the floor of the outcropping, his hair spread out around his head as Lance cards his fingers through it.

“What’s what like?”

“You know, being a mermaid and all.”

“It’s very wet,” Lance replies with a smirk, his eyes shining as Keith laughs. “But, really, it’s quite beautiful, being surrounded by the ocean all day. It’s fun, too. Our Queen, Allura, she’s the most gorgeous being in the entire sea, and her tail is like none you’ve ever seen; pink, and blue, and silver. Her Second in Command, Coran, is hilarious. His tail is navy blue and yellow- sounds weird, but it works- and his fin is kind of curved and wispy. It looks like, hmm, I believe you humans call it a moustache?”

“Your Queen’s Second in Command has a moustache for a tail?” Keith repeats, raising an eyebrow.

“No, more like a moustache on his tail,” Lance replies with a chuckle, “oh! And my best friend Hunk is true gentle giant of the sea. He’s massive, and his tail is bright, shining gold. And Pidge- that demon- they’re so lovely and so, so intelligent, but I’d never want to get on their bad side. They’re scary.”

“What colour is their tail?”

“It’s a bright, vibrant green, kind of like your-” Lance spins his hand in the air, looking for the right word, “-apples?”

“Will I ever get to meet your friends?” Keith wonders aloud, partly to himself.

“Um, Hunk and Pidge, maybe, but never Allura or Coran. I could get in huge trouble for this,” Lance says, still pulling strands of Keith’s hair through his fingers.

“Huh? Why?” Keith asks.

“Because this, what we’re doing now, is very against the rules. Mermaids are never allowed to reveal themselves to the humans,” Lance tells him. Keith sits up, turning around to face Lance.

“Then why are you here?” he inquires, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Huh? Do you not want me to be?”

“No, no, that’s not what I said. But, like, if it’s against the rules, why would you risk it? For me, of all people?”

“I was fascinated by you, Keith. We don’t see many beautiful young boys throwing themselves into the ocean. I just had to know more about you,” Lance says, blue eyes wide and shining as he watches Keith’s face.

“Why didn’t you just let me drown?” Keith asks. Lance recoils slightly, looking almost startled.

“I considered it, honestly, and I also considered dragging you down with me and making you one of us. But it was your fear, Keith, I could feel it from where I was. You were so, so afraid, and you didn’t really want to die, I could tell. And-“ Lance pauses, and he looks away from Keith as he says, “-okay, I’m about to tell you one of the biggest mermaid secrets ever. We can see the future.”

“What?”

“Yeah. And, Keith, a future in which you’d drowned would not have been a pleasant one. Your grandmother loves you very much, Keith, and your passing would ruin her to the point that he suffers a heart attack. And your brother, Shiro, 23 years old and completely alone in the world, would throw himself into the ocean, just like you had, only to be picked up by Allura. He’d grow to harbour resentment towards her, towards all of us, for making him like us, for not just letting him drown, and, one day, he’d just disappear,” Lance says, his eyes growing wistful and glowing blue. Keith is frozen in place, unmoving, his breath catching in his throat.

“What did that- what does that mean? That you were thinking of dragging me down with you? That Allura made Shiro like you? What- what are you saying, Lance?” Keith’s throat is burning with the effort of speaking, and he’s shaking uncontrollably where he sits. His mind is reeling faster than he thinks possible.

“If a human dies in the arms of a mermaid, they become one too.”

Keith faints.

 

“-eith. Keith, wake up, c’mon.”

_What?_

“Keith, please wake up, come on.”

_Is that Shiro? What’s he doing here?_

Keith’s eyes blink open slowly, taking in the fading light. Shiro’s arms are around his shoulders, holding him up.

“What- where’s Lance?” he asks automatically, eyes darting around rapidly to take in his surroundings. He’s still in the outcropping, lying in Shiro’s arms. Lance is no where to be found, save for a scatter of blue scales on the rock.

“Lance?” Shiro asks, nose crinkling as he watches Keith’s face. He gently sets Keith back down and checks his vitals.

“Uh, never mind.”

“What happened, Keith? Did you do anything?” Shiro questions, moving on from Keith’s vitals to pat him down, checking for injuries.

“I think I just fainted,” Keith replies, shoving Shiro’s hands away and sitting up slowly. His head is spinning and he tries not to let it show on his face.

“Careful, Keith, Shiro warns, his hand coming up to support Keith’s back. 

“I’m okay, Shiro, I’m fine. Let’s just go home, okay?”

“Alright.”

Shiro scoops Keith up and cradles him like a princess, ignoring Keith’s protests as he walks across the beach to his car.

 

“Keith! Oh, you came back! Are you okay? I’ve been so worried,” Lance cries. He’s already waiting in the outcropping when Keith shows up, and he launches himself into Keith’s arms.

“Oh, yeah, um, hi,” Keith replies, his arms tentatively coming up to wrap around Lance’s back. “Um, could you tell me what happened, though? Because you were the only other one there.”

“You just fell asleep and stopped responding!” Lance howls, “and I asked Coran about it later and he says that humans do that sometimes when they're shocked or ill or upset and I’ve been so stressed about about whether I upset you or not and I’m so, so sorry, Keith!”

“What? Uh, no, don’t worry, it’s okay. I’m not upset,” Keith says, “I think I was just overwhelmed, maybe. I had a lot of information to take in. Did you call Shiro to come get me?”

“Me? No, he came on his own. Your light box was buzzing for a while, though, and his face was on it.”

“Light box?” Keith wonders, patting his pockets and pulling out his phone, “do you mean this?”

“Yes!” Lance shouts excitedly, “what is that? It’s so shiny!”

“It’s called a cell phone, Lance. We use it to text and call people who’re far away from us.”

“Does every human have one of these?” Lance asks, gently taking from Keith’s hands to inspect it.

“No, but most people do.”

“Wow,” Lance sighs before handing it back, “it’s pretty. It doesn’t seem very convenient, though.”

“Well, it’s faster than sending letters,” Keith replies.

“Letters?”

“They’re messages written on paper that we send to people we want to talk to. They can take a couple of days to arrive, though.”

“You humans sure have weird methods of communication,” Lance says, his head cocked as he smiles.

“Well, how do you communicate?” Keith asks, matching Lance’s stare.

“We just communicate through the ocean, sending our energy through her to whoever we want to reach. She’s very helpful,” Lance responds, lazily waving his tail in the water.

“Oh, wow, that’s actually really cool,” Keith says, breaking his gaze at Lance to look out into the water.

“I know, right! And it’s quick, too. I could demonstrate now, if you still want to meet Hunk and Pidge?”

“Um,” Keith starts, thinking about the offer. He thinks it’d be amazing to meet other mermaids, to prove even more thoroughly to himself that fairy tales are possible, but the prospect is also terrifying. He’s gotten the sense more than once that Lance could crush him if he wanted to, could hurt him, could kill him. But his curiosity still gets the best of him, so he nods.

“Perfect!” Lance exclaims. He slides out of the outcropping to sit in the water a few feet under it, and puts his hands on its surface. His eyes are closed as water rushes over his fingers and crashes into his stomach, and Keith gasps when a flash of blue light emerges from his hands. Then his eyes are opening, and he smiles into the water before rising and climbing back onto the ledge.

“They’ll be here soon,” he announces.

Lance really wasn’t exaggerating when he said soon, as, within two minutes, a large head of brown hair breaks the surface of the water.

“Lance!” the mermaid calls. Lance lifts his hand to wave him over. He’s huge, with shoulders probably twice the size of Keith’s and dark skin decorated with gold scales

“That’s Hunk,” he says to Keith, “and the little one behind him is Pidge. Are you allowed to swim?”

“Um, yeah, probably.” 

“Perfect,” Lance replies, grabbing Keith’s elbow and dragging him off the ledge. Keith squeaks, yanking his phone out of his jeans and putting it in his shirt pocket. He lands flat on his ass in the ocean, the shallow water lapping up around his waist. Lance just laughs at him.

“Lance, buddy!” Hunk says, swimming up and bumping shoulders with Lance, “is this your human friend?”

“Yup, his name is Keith.”

“Fascinating,” Pidge declares. They’re  a small thing, with short brown hair and pale skin scattered with green scales, matching their long, thin tail. “This is what a human looks like up close? Wow, let me get a look at him,” they move out from behind Hunk, approaching Keith and putting both hands on his face. They move his head this way and that, examining him “Oh, he doesn’t have gills! How does he breathe underwater?”

“He doesn’t,” Lance answers matter-of-factly.

“Interesting,” they say, hands moving to press on his stomach. “He’s smaller than most humans I’ve seen; very skinny,” they point out, reaching for his hands, “and his fingers aren’t webbed? That must slow him down. What about his toes?” they ask, and then they’re grabbing Keith’s ankle, splaying his legs as they pull his foot towards them. His face flushes. “Wow, they aren’t webbed either!”

“Oh, Pidge, stop, you’re embarrassing him!” Lance cries, putting his hand on Pidge’s shoulder to pull them away from Keith.

“What? How do you know?” they ask, eyes flicking up to Keith’s face, “oh! His face is pink! Why?”

“It’s called a blush. It happens when humans are embarrassed.”

“Wow,” they sigh, poking Keith’s face, “that’s so cool! Well, then, I’m sorry for embarrassing you, human Keith.”  

“Oh, it’s okay,” Keith says. Pidge backs away, moving to sit next to Hunk.

“It’s nice to meet you, Keith,” Hunk greets softly, must more subdued than Pidge, “we’ve heard a lot about you. All good things, I promise.”

“Yeah, Lance never shuts up about you. Well, actually, he never shuts up in general,” Pidge jokes, reaching around Hunk to poke Lance in the ribs.

“Pidge, don’t tell him that!” Lance whines.

“Why? Are you gonna get embarrassed now, too? Is your face gonna turn pink?”

“Piiiidge-”

Never in his life did Keith think he’d ever hang out with mermaids, and he definitely never thought he’d enjoy it.

 

“Your pants are incomplete,” Lance says factually, reaching out to grab Keith’s bare knee. Keith laughs.

“They’re called shorts, Lance,” he chuckles, sitting on his knees in the water.

It’s been six days since Keith met Hunk and Pidge, and Lance has taken to pulling him into the water at random now that he knows it’s okay. Keith came prepared today, deciding to wear swim trunks and leaving his phone locked in his car.

“You’re in the water today! Do you wanna go swimming?” Lance asks, clapping his hands in excitement. Keith considers it for a moment.

Swimming. With a mermaid. Wow.

“I’d love to,” he replies, pulling his shirt up over his head and tossing it onto the outcropping above him.

“Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously,” Keith laughs. Lance shrieks excitedly, grabbing Keith’s hand. “Oh, but, wait, wait, wait, wait; remember, I don’t have gills. I am extremely capable of drowning.”

“I know, stupid. I won’t hurt you,” Lance promises, taking Keith’s other hand and starting to swim backwards at a lazy, slow pace. Keith lets Lance pull him along, half-heartedly kicking to make it seem like he’s doing something. They move like this for a while, Lance tugging Keith along like a child, the cool water pleasant against Keith’s skin. 

“You’re so slow,” Lance giggles. Keith just takes some water into his mouth and spits it at him. 

“Well, you’re a mermaid. I bet a speedboat would be slow to you.”

“Speedboat? Oh, is that one of the floating things? With the really loud fin that irritates the water?” 

“Yeah, actually,” Keith replies.

“We don’t like those, they’re too much of a disturbance,” Lance says, “but I have an idea. It’s something that humans do with their children, I think, where they carry them on their back?”

“A piggy-back ride?”

“Yes, that! Let’s try that,” Lance asks, beaming at Keith. He releases Keith’s hands and rolls over to face the front, waiting patiently for Keith to climb on.

Which he does, after a little bit of self-doubt and a half-dozen times asking Lance if it’s really okay. He reaches out, putting his hands on Lance’s shoulders and wrapping his legs around his waist. Lance takes off at a faster pace than they kept before, but not so fast that Keith feels he might fall off. They’re still in fairly shallow water, keeping close to the rock face that surrounds the ocean. Keith doesn’t know where they’re going but Lance seems to have a plan, so he’s content to just stay still and enjoy the water.

“Okay, human Keith,” Lance announces after a few minutes, seemingly having found his destination. “Hold your breath.”

Before Keith can even question it, they’re going under. He forces his eyes open.

Lance is swimming through a tunnel that’s been eroded into the rock face, lit ever so slightly by reflections of sunlight. They continue underwater until Keith’s breath is gone, until his head feels fuzzy, until he worries that the folklore of mermaids seducing sailors just for the sake of drowning them are true, and then they surface. 

Keith pulls away from Lance immediately, heart pounding as his lungs flood with oxygen. He treads for a while, eyes shut as he tries to regulate his breathing.

“Keith? Are you okay? I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” Lance says from somewhere beside him, voice echoing. 

“No, it’s okay, just try being more careful,” Keith replies as he opens his eyes again. He finds himself in a cave, the ceiling rising high above the water level, light glinting around though cracks in the rock. Keith’s mouth drops open in shock as he turns slowly, taking in every inch of the place.

“Do you like it?” Lance asks, sounding almost shy.

“Oh my god, Lance,” Keith exclaims, “it’s beautiful!”

“Isn’t it! I love it here, Keith, it’s so great!” Lance cries, grabbing Keith’s hands and beaming. “Oh, and come, look over here! There’s a little ledge to sit on if you get tired, and there’s a ridge that runs along the wall that you can stand on, and nobody even knows it’s here!”

“Lance, it’s- it’s so amazing,” Keith breathes, his eyes drifting around the cave. He drifts in the water, the occasional brush of Lance’s tail against his legs grounding him in reality. The cave truly is beautiful, surrounding him with peace and tranquility.

“Come swim with me, Keith,” Lance begs, gently tugging on Keith’s hands. Keith lets Lance lead him to the centre of the water, smiling as Lance ducks down to swim quick circles around his legs. He gasps when Lance’s arms wrap around his waist, giving him just a second of warning before pulling him under. Letting his body go, he trusts Lance to control his movements, content to flow with the ocean.

Keith is no stranger to swimming. Having grown up in a seaside town since he was three years old, there’s no way he could be. He’s been playing with Shiro in the water since before he can even remember, and his first job ever was as a lifeguard at the local pool.

All the time he’s spent in the water pales in comparison to this moment.

He’s never experienced anything quite like swimming with a mermaid, like playing and wrestling and simply moving with a creature that’s meant to be underwater even more so than Keith’s meant to be on land. It’s a beautiful thing; something that makes Keith’s heart feel light and his mind feel free, and his overjoyed peals of laughter ring out through the water. Lance is there all the while, laughing along with him.

 Despite all his time in the water, keeping up with Lance still proves difficult. He can’t match Lance’s strength or energy, and he’s tired out really quickly, opting to sit on the ledge that Lance pointed out to catch his breath. He watches with fascination as Lance swims, the beauty of him doing something that he was born to do, the actions coming as easily as breathing. It makes Keith’s heart ache.

“What’re you thinking about?” Lance questions, head popping up next to where Keith’s toes dangle in the water.

“You,” Keith replies automatically, without thinking. Lance’s eyes widen and Keith’s cheeks flush as he realizes what he’d said.

“What about me?” Lance asks tentatively, blinking up at Keith with a soft smile.

“The way you swim,” Keith breathes, “it’s so beautiful, I don’t think there’s anything like it in the world.”

“If I were a human, I think I’d be blushing right now,” Lance says, pulling himself up onto the ledge to sit next to Keith. The scales on his cheeks and shoulders are fluttering, glowing a brighter blue than usual.

“Huh?” Keith wonders, reaching out a finger to stroke over Lance’s shoulder. “Lance, I think you are blushing.”

“No, we call that glowing. It happens when we’re, uh…”

“When you’re what?” Keith inquires, hand moving to brush him thumb over the scales on Lance’s cheek. They’re surprisingly soft and warm, and they glow even brighter under his touch.

“When we’re close to somebody that’s special to us,” he murmurs, eyes shyly sliding away from Keith’s.

“Humans blush for that reason too, you know,” Keith tells him. Lance’s eyes snap back up to Keith’s face, widening as they take in the bright pink flush on his cheeks. He reaches out to touch it, mirroring the way that Keith gently brushes a thumb over his scales.

“You’re blushing.”

“And you’re glowing.”

They stare at each other, grey eyes meeting blue, and the only thoughts in Keith’s head are, _“he’s going to kiss me. Wait, do I want him to kiss me?”_

Lance moves in then, stopping inches away from Keith, and Keith can feel his warm breath on his face.

_“Oh my god, I definitely want him to kiss me.”_

“Keith,” Lance whispers, moving in again. They’re close, they’re so close, and Keith’s heart is pounding.

A flash of yellow light erupts in the cavern.

They break apart instantly, and Lance slides into the water. He takes up the position that Keith had seen only once, when he’d been communicating with Hunk and Pidge, and the light seems to leech up through his fingertips. Keith is frozen where he sits.

“Oh, no. No, no, no,” Lance says as the light on his hands fades out, “this is bad. This is really bad.”

“What’s happening?” Keith asks, his face pale from fear and shock.

“I can’t really explain it,” Lance replies, “but it’s not good. Keith, we’ve gotta go, okay? Right now. I’m going to swim you back to the beach, and then you’re going to get in your land boat, go back home, and don’t come back until the storm subsides, okay?” Lance reaches up, grabbing hold of Keith’s wrist and pulling him down into the water, moving to put Keith on his back.

“Wait, Lance, please, what’s going on?” Keith demands, lip trembling in fear

“Keith, we don’t have time for this, okay? Please, please just trust me. And don’t be afraid, please. Nothing’s going to hurt you, so just trust me,” Lance begs, taking Keith in his arms. Keith just nods, letting a few tears slip out onto Lance’s shoulder.

 

The storm is raging.

Keith is curled into a chair by the big window in his house, watching as lightning crashes into the sea. His eyes are red and puffy, and he worries his lip through his teeth, growing more anxious with each passing minute. He has no idea what’s happening, but he’s so, so scared.

_“I want Lance.”_

 

“Is it true, Lance?”

“Is what true, Allura?” Lance fires back, arms crossed over his chest to keep them from shaking.

“I’d recommend that you show some respect,” The Queen says, jaw set angrily. “You know what I’m talking about. Is it true that you’ve been revealing yourself to a human?”

“Well, we haven’t gotten that far,” Lance replies with a smirk, raising a suggestive eyebrow. Allura is fuming, he can see it, but he knows she’d never raise a hand against one of her subjects. Well, he hopes.

“Lance!” she shouts, “your resistance is not going to make this situation better for you or your human!”

_Or your human._

_Keith._

“Fine, fine, yes!” Lance cries, “I’ve been talking to a human. It’s the boy that I rescued weeks ago, and he is the kindest person ever. Allura, please trust me. He’s not going to hurt us.”

“Well, obviously, he can’t hurt us if he’s dead.”

“Allura, no!” Lance begs, “please, please, you can’t kill him. He hasn’t done anything wrong!”

“Lance!” she commands, “there will be no negotiation. I forgave you for rescuing him, but I can’t forgive you for putting all of us in danger.”

“Keith’s not dangerous.”

“He’s a human, Lance. You have to understand. And if you want to be with him so badly, then drown him in your arms and keep him here forever; but he cannot stay alive as a human.”

_I promised I wouldn’t hurt him._

Lance could never kill Keith. He wouldn’t be able to stand never being able to see a blush rise up on Keith’s cheeks again.

_I have to keep him safe._

“I can’t kill Keith, please, Allura, I can’t, I can’t,” Lance sobs, his hands coming up to cover his face. “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t…”

“I know it’s hard, Lance, but it’s for the good of everyone,” she says, moving to set a hand on Lance’s shoulder. Lance just shakes her off and leaves without saying a word.

 

Keith can’t stand it anymore.

“Shiro!” he shouts into the hallway, “I’m going out.”

“Keith, the weather is terrible. You can’t go to the beach in a storm like this,” Shiro says, coming around the corner and leaning against the wall.

“Shiro, I have to, okay? You wouldn’t understand it, but I have to, something’s happening.”

“Why’re you being so cryptic?” Shiro yells, “why have you been going every day? Keith, what’s going on with you?”

“I can’t tell you,” Keith says softly, walking up to set his hands on his brother’s shoulders. “But I have to go. Please, Shiro, just trust me.”

Tears well up in Shiro’s eyes, the first time Keith’s in him cry since he was 10 years old, wrapping his arms tightly around Keith.

“Please, please come home safe.”

“I will, I promise.”

 

Keith nearly has a heart attack when he sees a familiar flash of scales from the outcropping. He sprints across the beach, ignoring the glass and rocks that cut at his feet, and hauls himself onto the ledge.

“Keith?” Hunk asks, grabbing Keith’s arm to keep him stable. “Oh, Lance was right. You are an idiot. What’re you doing here?”

“Hunk? It’s you,” Keith breathes, “is Lance okay? Where is he?” Keith’s heart is pounding in his chest, his lungs struggling for oxygen as he looks around rapidly.

“Keith, calm down,” Hunk says softly, “Lance is fine, he’s just in a bit of trouble. He sent me here to see if you show up. And I don’t want to make you panic, but Keith, you’re the one in danger.”

“What? Why?”

“It’s mermaid law. Any human who discovers our existence must die.”

Keith’s heart stops.

_Any human who discovers our existence must die._

Keith doesn’t want to die.

_Any human who discovers our existence must die._

Keith is scared to die.

He just wants to be with Lance.

“Oh my gods, Keith, you’re leaking,” Hunk announces, fingers coming up to brush tears off Keith’s cheek.

_“Your face turned pink!”_

_“Your pants are incomplete.”_

_“Your light box was buzzing.”_

Keith misses Lance.

“It’s called crying, Hunk, It happens when humans are sad,” Keith whispers. 

“Why’re you sad, Keith?”

“I don’t want to die. I really don’t want to die.”

“Keith!”

Keith freezes. His pulse is deafening in his ears.

_Lance._

“Lance!” Hunk shouts, waving his arms, “hurry up! He’s here!”

Before Keith can even breathe again, Lance is pulling himself onto the ledge and dragging Keith in to his body. Keith wraps his arms around him, burying his face in Lance’s chest as he sobs.

“Lance,” Hunk asks, “what’s happening?”

“She mad, Hunk. She’s really mad,” Lance whispers, “this isn’t going to be good.”

“I’ll go try to talk to her,” Hunk announces, sliding off the ledge and into the ocean.

“Hunk, wait,” Lance says, “thank you so much, for everything.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Hunk replies, taking off into the water.

Keith clutches at Lance’s back, shaking as he sobs into Lance’s skin. Lance’s hands drift over his hair and down his back.

“Keith? Keith, look at me,” Lance says, pulling away and holding Keith’s chin loosely. “You can’t be here. You really can’t. You have to leave, you have to go home and never come back to the ocean. Leave the town if you have to. You just can’t be here.”

“I’m scared,” Keith admits, moving to press his face into Lance’s neck.

“I know. I am too, can you feel it?” He asks, lifting one of Keith’s hands to his shoulder. The scales there are hard and cold, raised jaggedly away from Lance’s skin. It’s so far away from how they were just hours ago, when they were soft and warm, when Keith thought that Lance was going to kiss him.

“I don’t want to leave, Lance.”

“Keith,” Lance begs, pushing Keith away to look into his eyes, “please, you have to. You aren’t safe here, and I don’t know what I’d do if you got hurt-“

Keith kisses him.

He surges forward, hands gripping into Lance’s hair, the press of his lips soft by comparison. Lance kisses back on autopilot, holding Keith close with arms around his back. Keith can taste the ocean on Lance’s mouth, and the tears on his cheeks smear across Lance’s face. Their kiss is sad and desperate, every movement ringing with finality, and it builds up and bubbles over in Keith’s chest, threatening to strangle him.

“Lance,” he whispers.

“Keith.”

“I’m not leaving you.”

“You have to.”

“I can’t,” Keith replies, pressing forward again his lips brushing over Lance’s mouth, his nose, the arch of his eyebrows, the scales on his cheekbones.

“I won’t kill you, Keith,” Lance says, “I can’t.”

“Lance, it wasn’t a question. I am not leaving you. There’s nothing here for me anymore; I wasn’t accepted to any college, I lost my job, I have no friends. But I do have you, Lance, and I’m not just going to let go of you this easily,” Keith declared.

Lance throws his arms up in exasperation before grabbing Keith’s face in both hands. “Keith, you don’t understand. Allura is angry; she’s upset with us and she controls an entire ocean. You can’t stay here like this, you won’t make it five minutes.”

“‘If a human dies in the arms of a mermaid, they become one too,’” Keith quotes, eyes travelling across Lance’s face. “That’s true, isn’t it.”

“Yes,” Lance huffs shakily.

“Then there’s a solution, Lance. I’ll die in your arms,” Keith resolves with a nod. Lance’s eyes are wide and afraid, and he shakes his head rapidly against Keith’s idea.

“No, no, you will not. You’ll go home, leave town, and forget everything about me. Keith, I won’t let you die; I promised I’d keep you safe,” Lance cries, voice breaking. If Keith closed his eyes, Lance would’ve sounded human; like a normal boy on the verge of falling apart.

“Lance, I’m not giving you the choice,” Keith says, “because I don’t know what it is, but I think I’m in love with you, so there’s no way that I’m leaving you behind.”

Keith watches in shock as tears well up in Lance’s eyes, catching on scales as they spill down his face. “Keith, I’m melting! What is this?”

“It’s called crying, Lance,” Keith laughs as his own tears flow, “humans do it when they’re sad. Or happy, or scared, or overwhelmed.” 

“You made me cry,” Lance says, brushing Keith’s tears away with his thumbs.

“I’m sorry.”

“Keith?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t want you to leave me,” Lance whispers, “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Then let me stay with you,” Keith replies.

“Keith…”

“Lance.”

“I really, really don’t agree with this. Not at all,” Lance mutters against Keith’s lips.

“Will you let me, though?” Keith asks, fingers tangling in Lance’s hair to hold him close.

“Keith, I-”

“Is that a yes?”

“Fine.”

Keith drags Lance in against his chest, holding him close and burying his nose in Lance’s hair. He smells fresh, a little salty, like the ocean.

Keith’s heart rips at the thought of having to leave Lance. There’s no way he could ever do it. 

He’s not afraid to die anymore; not with Lance.

“Keith! Keith, where are you?” Shiro shouts in the distance.

_Oh, no._

The beam of a flashlight darts across the beach behind him, and Shiro’s shouting and heavy footsteps break Keith and Lance apart.

“Oh, no. Lance, you have to leave,” Keith whispers, panicked, “I’ll deal with Shiro.”

“Wait, but what about-“

“Lance, he’s my brother. I can’t just disappear without seeing him. I’ll be back soon, okay?”

“But how… will you come back here?” Lance asks, hands still gripping Keith’s even as he moves to slide back into the water, as the light from Shiro’s flashlight moves even closer.

_“He’d never survive another fall like that.”_

“That’s it. The cliff, Lance! I’ll throw myself into the ocean again, so just be there to catch me, okay?” Keith says, already moving to stand.

“That hurt you last time, didn’t it?”

“Lance,” Keith murmurs with a soft smile, “I don’t care about that. It doesn’t matter, so just trust me and be there.”

“Okay,” Lance breathes, bringing Keith’s hand to his lips for just a second. Then he’s letting go, swimming out a few feet as Keith hops off the ledge and moves towards the beach. “Oh, and for the record, I think I’m in love with you, too.”

Keith trips.

“Careful, baby!” Lance shouts jokingly as Keith coughs, trying to cover up the shock of Lance’s almost-confession. He shakes his head to clear it before struggling back to his feet, running towards the beach before Lance can say another thing to make his heart stop. Lance’s laughing grows further and further away.

“Shiro!” he calls when he hits the beach, “I’m over here!”

Shiro’s flashlight hits the sand, and the pounding of his feet grows louder as he breaks into a sprint.

“Keith!” he shouts, yanking Keith into his arms. “Oh my god, Keith, I’ve been so worried, Jesus Christ. Where have you been?”

Keith pushes out of Shiro’s arms and sets his hand firmly on his shoulders, staring up at him with determination. “I’ve already told you, I can’t explain it. You really just need to to trust me, okay?” Then he’s waking across the beach, head high but hands shaking as he climbs the sand dunes that lead to the cliff.

“Keith, what are you- Keith! Stop right now, listen to me, dammit!” Shiro yells, grabbing Keith’s wrist to yank him back. Keith waits for his usual flush of anger, for the rage that bubbles up in his chest and compels him to scream hurtful things to his brother, but it never comes. Instead, his mind is calm, worrying only about Lance, about his coming death.

“Shiro,” he whispers, “just trust me. I know what I’m doing. There’s nothing here for me anymore, but there’s something out there.”

“What’re you talking about?” Shiro cries, the tears in his eyes glinting in the light of buildings from town.

“I can’t explain it right now, I really can’t. But do you remember that little ledge on the cliff face, the one we played at as kids? Be there tomorrow evening, okay? But I have to go now, Shiro. I love you, and thanks for everything,” Keith says, his voice wavering as he squeezes Shiro’s hand before yanks away. He roughly forces his shoulder into Shiro’s chest, body-checking him, causing his to lose balance and tumble back down the dunes that he’d climbed.

“Keith, wait! Keith!” Shiro screams, his voice breaking. Keith bites his lip and struggles to tune him out, scrambling up the remained of the dunes and pulling himself up to the top of the cliff. He stares out at it, up the incline that distances it even more from the water below, and doubt works into his stomach for just a second.

Eight feet in front of him and dozens of feet down, Lance waits. Knowing that gives Keith all the courage he needs.

He rises, walking forwards.

One step.

_Percy’s Cove._

Another.

_Gramma, I’ll miss you._

Again.

_Shiro, I’m sorry._

One more.

_Lance._

_Lance._

_Lance._

_I love you._

His next step sends him over the edge, and he falls.

 

The impact is no more pleasant than it was the first time, forcing the air from Keith’s lungs, part of his ribcage crushing in on itself. But there are arms wrapping around him, and Lance cradles him to is chest as they sink down, down, down. He’s not afraid this time. Even as his mind panics, as his body struggles, as his lungs take in water while they desperately grab for oxygen, he’s not scared.

He goes cold, but Lance is still warm.

 

“Oh, he’s awake!” someone says in Keith’s ear as his eyes flicker open. He’s greeted with Pidge’s brown eyes as they lean over his face curiously.

“Oh… Pidge? What happened?” Keith asks, blinking a few times. He’s in the cave that he’d visited with Lance, lying across the ledge on the wall. 

 _“How did I get here?”_ he wonders, forehead furrowing. _“Oh.”_

Previous events flood his memory, filling his brain quickly, overwhelming him.

 _“I died,”_ he thinks, _“so am I a mermaid now, or was I just super high for the past month?”_

“Pidge, move, I wanna see him,” Lance demands, grabbing Pidge by the tail and yanking them into the water. They shriek, shouting profanities up at Lance as he takes their place next to Keith on the ledge.

“Lance!” Keith exclaims.

“Yup! How’re you doing, beautiful?” he jokes, reaching out a hand to help Keith sit. Keith feels his face flush, and Lance gasps.

“Oh my god,” Hunk says from the water, where he’s lazily floating alongside Pidge.

Keith frowns, reaching up to take Lance’s hand. He sits awkwardly, his legs not moving like they usually do, and he looks down at them curiously.

 _“_ Oh! _”_

Where there used to be an expanse of skinny, pale leg, there’s now a long, shining tail, shocking crimson against the grey rock.

“Oh my god, Lance!” he shouts, stroking a hand over the tail, eyes widening at the matching red webbing between his fingers. “I’m a mermaid!”

“I know, so am I,” Lance chuckles. He picks up a piece of broken mirror that’s sitting beside him, holding it out for Keith. “You’re prettier than me, though.”

His reflection in the mirror is almost how he remembers it. He’s got the same overgrown black hair, the same grey eyes, the same pale skin. His skin is more airbrushed-looking now, though,  any blemishes or dry patches completely gone.

He notices the gills first, lines of open skin tinged with crimson, weakly pulsating. The scales are the most stunning, though. They’re iridescent white with just the slightest pink, and they gleam upon his cheekbones and the tops of his shoulders. 

“Oh my god,” he breathes, fingers coming up to stroke over his cheeks. The scales are soft and warm, just like he remembers. Lance hands him the mirror, moving to wrap his arms around Keith’s waist and pull him close. Keith’s eyes drop from his reflection to his hand as Lance links them together.

“Look,” he whispers into Keith’s neck.

Keith nearly drops the glass.

The white scales on his cheeks are now glowing pale pink, warm and fluttering against his skin.

Just like a blush.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Lance breathes over Keith’s skin. Keith just sets the mirror down and grabs Lance’s chin, pulling him up to kiss him.

“Eww,” Pidge and Hunk groan in unison. Keith just flicks his tail at them.

Lance pulls away after a moment, laughing at the pout that forms on Keith’s lips. “Now, now, we’ve got plenty of time for that later. Come on,” he says, sliding off the ledge and pulling Keith with him, “let’s go home.”

 

“Shiro?” his grandma asks, “oh, thank God, you’re home- wait, where’s Keith?”

“I- I don’t know,” Shiro replies, his eyes wide and his hands shaking. His throat is hoarse from screaming, from begging Keith to come back, to come home, and it hurts to swallow.

In his mind, he knows that Keith is dead. Keith jumped from that goddamn cliff again, disappeared into the ocean, was nowhere to be found when Shiro swam in after him. He knows that Keith is gone, forever. But there’s something in his heart that tells him he’s wrong.

Maybe it’s the look on Keith’s face; the peaceful, wise look in his eyes as he said goodbye. Maybe it’s the promise that Keith made before shoving Shiro down the hill. But it’s something, and it fills Shiro with unexplainable hope.

“Oh, Shiro, Shiro,” Gramma sobs, reaching out to pull him into her arms. He goes easily, leaning into her like he had when he was a kid, and they cry together in their entrance.

 _“_ Keith,” he whispers into her shoulder, “I don’t know where you are but please, please be safe.”

 

Shiro tosses and turns all night, restless. Every time he closes his eyes, he sees Keith dropping from the cliff to the ocean, disappearing from sight.

He pulls his comforter over his head to protect himself.

It’s six the next evening when he finally gets up, scruffy and red-eyed. He glares at his reflection in the mirror.

 _“I couldn’t save Keith,”_ he thinks, _“this is all my fault.”_

He yanks on sweatpants and trudges down the hallway, his mind racing with negativity. He can hear Gramma crying from her bedroom at the end of the hall and his chest tightens, throat closing in.

_“It’s all my fault.”_

His looks at his face in the glass of the kitchen window. When they were kids, he and Keith looked so alike; same face shape, same hair colour, same pale skin. Over the years, Shiro grew out of it, his chin squaring out, and his skin tanning from endless time spent on the beach. Keith, however, never really changed. He’s always looked so young. 

“It’s my fault,” he whispers, gripping the edge of the kitchen counter, “it’s my fault; I couldn’t save him. I let my baby brother die.”

Tears drip onto the counter as he squeezes it, chest heaving, and he brings his other fist down against it as he sobs.

“He’s dead!” Shiro cries, “Keith’s dead and I let him die! I hate this! I hate it, I hate it, I hate it-” he screams, sobbing until his throat is sore, until his hand throbs for striking the countertop.

_“But do you remember that little ledge on the cliff face, the one we played at as kids? Be there tomorrow evening, okay?”_

Shiro never wants to go back to that beach again in his life, wants to leave town and move to the other side of the country to avoid it, but Keith’s words from last night ring in his head.

He has to go.

“Gramma!” he calls up the stairs, “I’m going out, but I’ll be back soon.”

 

Shiro walks the beach, and all he can feel is Keith.

One time, when they were kids, Shiro spent all afternoon teaching Keith to make sandcastles. Keith wound up being far better than he was; Shiro didn’t have the patience for it.

Another time, when Keith was thirteen, he fell asleep and wound up with the biggest sunburn of his life. He laid in bed and refused to move for three days afterwards.

Keith went on his first date here, when he was fifteen. It was disastrous, and the other guy wound up dumping sand on Keith’s head and storming away, but Keith wasn’t bothered. “If it was meant to be,” he’d said, “then that asshole wouldn’t have dumped sand in my freaking hair.”

The rocks along the shore glint in the evening sun. Shiro had always loved sea glass, the green pieces that were made from old Sprite bottles, or so he’d been told. Keith always loved the rocks, the thin, flat ones that shine like the ocean.

Shiro wipes tears from his cheeks as he dutifully treks across the sand. He hates the cliff, will always, always hate that goddamn cliff, but he walks towards it anyway. He and Keith have a secret little ledge there, where they’d go to play Pirates or Sea Monsters, or even just to talk as they got older. It’s as familiar as the back of his hand. 

He wades out into the water a few feet, arms tensing as he starts to pull himself up, but then he freezes.

Across the surface of the ledge, pieces of green sea glass have been scattered, gleaming in the low sunlight. Alongside them are smatterings of red and blue scales.

“Keith,” he breathes, “I still don’t know where you are, but at least you’re safe.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed my story!! I wrote this in two days when I was supposed to be studying for exams because I'm an awful person.  
> Just a quick reminder; I die of happiness when people comment on my stuff so please!!!


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